Good afternoon DGC. Long time listener here. You guys get me through my hour long drive to and from work every day, Thank you!! I have a question about recharge in a reservoir. Do to my busy schedule I had to switch to an auto watering system I went with the autopotxl system(w/smartpots). I never run an air stone in my reservoir do to ph swings. I only mix up enough nutrients to last about 3 days before the reservoir is empty. My question is if add a air stone or something like that would that be enough to keep the microbes alive for those three days? Thanks again
833-420-2420
I’ll preface this by saying I’m not a microbiologist but I don’t think you’re going to see the kind of results you want from Recharge if you keep it in your reservoir. We KNOW that brewing aerated compost tea for more than 24-36hrs will have a negative effect on the microbial composition of the tea. Without going into a long explanation (like I tend to do) sufficed to say certain microbial species will quickly dominate other species in a brew. You’re talking about 3 days, which is beyond that threshold and it’s unlikely your stones provide optimal aeration anyway. Plus, in order to feed the biology in water you would need to provide more food for them in the tank; which would only exacerbate the problem of inter-species warfare. This is not to say you’ll kill your plants or that there won’t be SOME benefit to the plants. However. I can not see how you could possibly get the same response as a typical drench application immediately after mixing water and Recharge.
I’m jealous of your AutoPots! I’ve toyed with the idea of trying them for a couple of years but I’m stuck on Blumats. If it were me, I would add Recharge periodically as a top-down drench despite the fact the system is bottom feeding. Assuming you’e using a well draining soil, an occasional application will not drown your roots. The soil will just get an extra heavy watering and the sensor at the bottom of the pot will not open up to feed in water from the bottom until the soil gets dry enough that it needs water. This short period of slightly more water will not have a negative effect on your plants.
Here’s the cool thing…. Since the AutoPot automatically feeds in water it MAINTAINS a constant level of moisture in the soil; instead of forcing the soil to cycle from wet to dry and back to wet – a practice that’s been adopted by cannabis growers as a work-around for poor watering technique. The AutoPot will maintain that optimal moisture level where your microbial population can live and thrive. In reality, once that population has been established, you don’t need to keep adding to it. THIS is what “living soil” is all about. So, you really shouldn’t need to add Recharge over and over like so many growers who let their soil “dry out (essentially die out) and need to keep re-inoculating their media. I would CERTAINLY moisten your soil using Recharge (and any other microbials you like) when you initially load the pots with soil. Then, another light application every couple of weeks should keep your soil as microbially active as you need!
I hope this helps you some. Best of luck on your AutoPot grow!
@dtom420
Thank you, in a nut shell that’s what I was thinking but it doesn’t hurt to ask. And I do have to say the single BEST thing I could have done with my grow was to incorporate the autopot system, it’s amazing how much the plants like the consistency. I took the plunge and will never look back. I love this system!!
excellent read, do you find keeping smaller amounts of nutrient water in your res helps maintain ph?
Yes, my PH does hold steady for time it takes the plants to use what’s in my res. I mix up 5 gallons at a time. This will last anywhere between two to three days(2 plants mid flower).
I have a 30 gal res, aeropots with automation and I have tried recharge in it for 7 days at a time. I didnt have the best results. I went back to hand watering it after a day of brewing and using just bacillus subtillus and amoliquefaciens (Root builder and hydroguard)and liquid weight for microbe food with my normal NPK recipe and they went off as usual. I would DEFINATELY get some oxygen in any tank. I put air stones in a single site clone machine. Oxygen is crucial for roots. The more you can give it, the better they grow. The oxygen will also help kill anaerobic bacteria like Pythia which will kill all the flavor of your bud. I hope that helps.